Re: #Dean on draft; got lucky deferment

On Mon, 01 Dec 2003 21:35:35 -0800, zepp <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
wrote:

>http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-3453054,00.html

When Dean goes down in flames in Nov '04, pundits will all be saying,
"Of course we knew he was going to lose.  Look at all the stupid
things he said during the campaign."
>
>Dean Recalls Vietnam War Draft Deferment
>
>
>Tuesday December 2, 2003 4:31 AM
>
>By STEVE LeBLANC
>
>Associated Press Writer
>
>CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean
>said Monday he was hoping for a deferment from the Vietnam War when he
>brought medical records to the draft board that showed he had a back
>problem.
>
>But he said he was prepared to accept the board's decision.
>
>``I felt if they took me, they took me, and if they didn't, they
>didn't. It wasn't like I was trying to dodge the draft. All I did was
>say here, look. Here's my information. Do with me what you will.''
>
>Dean was interviewed on the MSNBC show ``Hardball,'' as part of a
>series of weekly interviews of Democratic candidates broadcast live
>from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
>
>Asked by host Chris Matthews if he had hoped to be deferred, he
>replied, ``Yes.''
>
>Dean has said before that he was not anxious to serve in Vietnam and
>was glad he was deferred. But he has come under increased scrutiny
>recently from rival candidates, including Gen. Wesley Clark, who
>criticized the former Vermont governor for spending time after the
>deferment on the ski slopes of Colorado.
>
>Dean said that if he was president, he would focus more on terrorists
>than on nation-states, except when the two are aligned, such as in
>Afghanistan.
>
>``I don't think the president has any idea how to fight terrorism,''
>he said.
>
>He also criticized President Bush for his treatment of members of the
>military and veterans.
>
>``I think the president did a great thing when he went to Thanksgiving
>dinner in Baghdad. He gave the troops a great morale boost,'' Dean
>said. ``But the truth is that the president hasn't served our troops
>all that well.''
>
>Dean said Bush tried to cut combat pay, extended tours of duty, which
>makes it tougher on the reserves and cut veterans benefits.
>
>Polls indicate that Dean is in a tight race with Missouri Rep. Dick
>Gephardt in the Iowa caucuses. Dean holds a wide lead in the follow-up
>primary in New Hampshire, and is widely considered the front-runner
>for the Democratic nomination.
>
>Two recent polls showed Dean in a statistical dead heat with
>Massachusetts Sen. John F. Kerry in Kerry's home state.
>Dean can spend as much as he wants to win the nomination because he is
>not accepting public financing. Kerry has also opted out of accepting
>taxpayer money.
>
>-
>"...too many whites are getting away with drug use."
>       -- Rush Limbaugh, on his short lived TV show
>          October 5, 1995
>                           
>Not dead, in jail, or a slave?  Thank a liberal!
>Pay your taxes so the rich don't have to.
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